iron sent us by parties interested in the works. A hearth was made near the base of the chimney for melting spiegel; and subsequently a small furnace (located at S, Fig. 60) was constructed for melting spiegel when the metal for conversion was taken direct from the blast-furnace.[1]
Continuing our description of the works, Fig. 61 is a view of the machinery in the casting-house as it appeared to a person standing in the "pulpit" (see Fig. 60) and looking toward the converter, V. This converter is represented on a larger scale in sectional elevation
Fig. 62.—Section or the First American Steel Converter.
by Fig. 62; and to the right of this figure is seen a longitudinal section and end views of one of the seven tuyères used in the converter. This vessel was made with its upper part in two separate sections, and it was supported on its trunnions by two
- ↑ It was at these works, in the summer of 1865, that Z. S. Durfee made the first attempt to melt pig metal in a cupola for use in the converting vessel. At that time the practice abroad was to melt the metal in a reverberatory furnace. Owing to the small size of the cupola and its distance from the converting vessel, the experiment was not entirely successful; but Mr. Durfee did not abandon his belief in the usefulness of this process. I claim for him the origination of the idea of cupola melting, which has contributed so much to the rapidity and economy of production in the steel-works of the world.
